Love

I find it quite remarkable that according to the scholars who have studied the life of Jesus, "His own self-understanding did not include thinking and speaking of himself as the son of God whose historical intention or purpose was to die for the sins of the world, and his message was not about believing in him. Rather, he was a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion [love]." (Marcus J. Borg). Having encountered a small portion of that love myself, I have to ask "how could he have done otherwise". That love is totally consuming and transforming.